The import of eggs to Georgia has increased. According to the National Statistics Office, 18,488,000 units of poultry eggs were imported in January–August this year, compared to 11,453,000 in the same period of last year.
Statistics show that eggs were imported only from two countries this year: Belarus and Turkmenistan. Specifically, 17,536,000 units were imported from Belarus and 953,000 units from Turkmenistan.
The Chairman of the Georgian Poultry Development Association says that importing eggs continues to pose a challenge for the country. As Zura Uchumbegashvili highlights, in a scenario where Georgia's self-sufficiency in eggs is more than adequate, the need to import this product is no longer a trivial matter.
In terms of egg production, Georgia is self-sufficient, generating more than enough. Despite this, eggs are still being imported for completely incomprehensible reasons. Imports is carried out from Turkmenistan, a desert region. This situation is no longer amusing. It's important to note that Turkmenistan typically has free energy, there are no utility charges. The low production costs in that country should not undermine Georgian production. Furthermore, to transport a perishable product in such a heat when the country does not need it and produces enough, I can’t call it a challenge, it’s completely incomprehensible.—it simply doesn’t make sense. However, nobody even pays attention to it. We still have to put up with it,' Zurab Uсhumbegashvili points out.
It’s important to note that the poultry industry has been asking the removal of VAT for years; however, as Zura Uchumbegashvili points out, this issue is out of question.
“The VAT is no longer on the agenda because we were clearly told it would not be removed.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance has conducted a study and determined that even sectors exempt from VAT are inefficient and could be taxed. Therefore, we no longer revisit this issue,” says Zura Uchumbegashvili.
